Researchers in Ireland have taken a major step forward in the battle against medical implant infections.

They developed a new type of implant scaffold to provide localized drug treatment and prevent infection, which has already proven effective against two types of major problem bacteria.

Publishing their results journal Biomedical Materials, the team from the National University of Ireland Galway show that stabilized collagen scaffolds loaded with a particular antibiotic were able to prevent both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis from forming.

Lead author Dr. Dimitrios Zeugolis, from NUI Galway's Regenerative, Modular & Developmental Engineering Laboratory (REMODEL) and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM), said: Implant infections remain a major healthcare problem. They can require long hospitalization periods to disturb and treat bacterial biofilm formation. There can also be a need for additional surgeries to remove or replace the infected implant, which if not done in time may lead to sepsis.

The team first developed a collagen scaffold, with a 0.625 percent concentration of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) used to stabilize it. They then tested the scaffolds with variable concentrations of the antibiotics Cefaclor and Ranalexin.